Minnesota’s Equal Rights Amendment Would Create Right to Abortions Up to Birth
Today advocates of a sweeping version of the so-called “Equal Rights Amendment” (ERA) announced plans to pursue the measure in Minnesota’s upcoming legislative session. Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) responded by pointing to the ERA bill’s extremism and deception.
“Most Minnesotans don’t want abortion legal all the way up to birth. They don’t want transgender surgeries on children. They don’t want religious, conscience, and parental rights put in jeopardy. Yet the ERA would enshrine all of this in the state Constitution—without even being honest about it,” said MCCL Co-Executive Director Cathy Blaeser. “This version of the ERA is not equal and it’s not right. It’s a checklist of extreme cultural positions. And it’s definitely not what Minnesotans just voted for.”
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The proposed ERA, if ratified, would establish a constitutional right to abortion at any stage of pregnancy. The language put on the ballot for voter approval, however, wouldn’t contain the word “abortion” at all. When the ERA bill last received serious consideration, a KSTP/SurveyUSA poll found that 64 percent of Minnesotans didn’t want abortion included in an Equal Rights Amendment. Polls also consistently show that most Minnesotans reject a no-limits abortion policy—the same policy that the ERA would make virtually permanent.
At today’s press conference, proponents of the amendment compared it to New York’s similarly extreme ERA. But the New York measure at least protects equal rights based on “creed” and “religion.” The proposal in Minnesota conspicuously does not.
Rep. Leigh Finke, the ERA bill’s House author, spoke about having “open, direct, honest conversations” on the ERA. Said MCCL’s Blaeser: “Honesty is exactly what’s needed in this discussion. The ERA language is not open, direct, or honest about its extreme agenda. We’re going to make sure Minnesotans know the facts.”
